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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Re hot school meal and evening meal?

193 replies

rabbitheadlights · 22/05/2019 16:27

After reading a few threads about evening meals just lately where posted say that if DC's have a hot school meal then they generally do a snack type dinner such as crackers cheese and veg sticks or pot noodles etc.

AIBU to think this is the few and not the many?

My kids all of them healthy weights would be calling child line and declaring starvation if I didn't give them a "proper" cooked meal every night!! By proper I probably mean more substantial I certainly don't cook from scratch every day but I know I could never get away with the above

OP posts:
ValiaH · 22/05/2019 16:28

Yep... Full dinner here reagardless of what they ate for lunch.

Bambamber · 22/05/2019 16:28

What works for some doesn't work for others. Just do what works for you

CMOTDibbler · 22/05/2019 16:29

Mine has beans on toast/ soup/scrambled egg on toast type meal when he's had a full meal at lunchtime, just the reverse of having a packed lunch

cliffdiver · 22/05/2019 16:29

Always a hot home made meal regardless of what they had to eat at school.

TheWernethWife · 22/05/2019 16:30

I was a child of a single mother and free school meals were a godsend. Mum used to give me soup, cheese on toast or something eggy for tea.

bridgetreilly · 22/05/2019 16:30

Pot noodles? Seriously, people are giving those to children as an actual meal? Please say it isn't so.

I think it's fine to give them a lighter, not cooked meal in the evening if they had a full hot dinner at school. I would be more likely to give sandwiches than just crackers and cheese, though. And obviously it depends how old they are. 16yo boys are going to want more than that!

DulcieRay · 22/05/2019 16:31

I do a mix. Usually pasta one night, freezer dinner, and a weekly takeaway, with maybe 1-2 snack dinners especially in the summer.

herculepoirot2 · 22/05/2019 16:31

If I eat a hot lunch I still want a proper meal in the evening unless for some reason I eat a really big lunch. School pie and veg at 12.30 isn’t enough to fill me up for the rest of the day.

IceIceCoffee · 22/05/2019 16:31

I don't get it, School lunches aren't huge and probably are not far off the calories of a packed lunch.
It's insane to me to not cook a proper meal because they had a hot option at lunch.

Pascha · 22/05/2019 16:32

I quickly found that school dinners are lunch sized portions and a sandwich tea wasnt going to cut it. Mine have a proper hot dinner most days. I would be lynched otherwise.

WillYouDoTheFandango · 22/05/2019 16:32

Mine will always say e.g. I had chicken curry for dinner so can I have sandwiches for tea? But he’d live on solely sandwiches if I let him (like his dad before him apparently).

MyNameIsCharlesII · 22/05/2019 16:34

@bridgetreilly I don’t think anyone was suggesting they give Pot Noodles to their children on a regular basis. Just that it’s one of the things they might offer if an actual dinner wasn’t going to happen. It’s no worse than them having takeaway now and again surely and that’s a pretty common thing.

thecatsthecats · 22/05/2019 16:34

I find it odd that 'crackers and cheese/snacks' is equated with 'small' - when we have that type of dinner, it's so that we can all eat as much as we like out of a big selection, without anyone having to cook. I definitely end up eating more!

chocolatebuttonsandcheese · 22/05/2019 16:35

I wouldn't want a hot tea after a hot lunch so just a snack at tea time. Beans on toast, sandwich etc

NabooThatsWho · 22/05/2019 16:35

My DD would be starving by dinner time even if she had a hot school lunch. She always needed a proper dinner.

Original poster
rabbitheadlights · 22/05/2019 16:36

I certainly don't think there's anything wrong with it just trying to fathom wether my lot are gluttons haha. @bridgetreilly yes I saw it on another thread re a pot noodle I've not had one for years, maybe they are better now?

OP posts:
arethereanyleftatall · 22/05/2019 16:36

I'm one of the few then. Not always, but mostly my dinners are easy, especially if they've had say a roast at school. Ironically, they often end up being pretty healthy, possibly healthier than a proper meal!
For example, couldn't be arsed yesterday, so I thought scrambled eggs on toast. Whilst the eggs/toast was cooking, I starting chopping random veg to go with. So, they had their eggs on toast, with raw carrots, raw peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, celery, and I threw in a few walnuts too. Glass of milk too, and I was perfectly happy with that, as were they. 5 mins, every nutritional box ticked.

Crunchymum · 22/05/2019 16:38

Cooked dinner every night

6yo has just gone to packed lunches as he was barely eating anything some days (fussy)

4yo is ravenous by 5pm (her class have lunch at 11:45am Shock) she would feel cheated by cheese and crackers for dinner.

Mygoodlygodlingtons · 22/05/2019 16:40

If you saw the tiny portions schools give children at lunchtime, you'd see why they need a cooked meal in the evening!

bert3400 · 22/05/2019 16:40

I always do a cooked meal, it's not just about the eating, it's family time , sitting all together and chatting, no phones or gadgets allowed . My kids would not be happy with a snack dinner

rvby · 22/05/2019 16:41

There is a weird cultural thing among humans that a meal needs to be hot / "cooked" in order to be nutritious or an adequate expression of love/care.

The fact is that calories are the main thing, followed closely by the sense that one is loved. You can give a child enough calories and have them feel very loved, without cooking them a hot supper each night.

A snack supper on the coffee table while cuddling in front of a movie is a wonderful thing! So is a roast with trimmings at the table. Neither is morally or nutritionally superior to the other.

I was a lone parent for three years and imo it was better to put less effort into cooking and more into chatting and cuddling my young DC / having extra time at bedtime / etc.

ClashCityRocker · 22/05/2019 16:42

We tended to have something quick on school nights growing up - scrambled egg on toast, beans on toast, baked potato with cheese or tuna rather than a traditional cooked meal.

Mind you, the amount of butter my mum used to put in scrambled eggs I wouldn't be surprised if it was more calorific than a 'proper' tea.

Suspect it depends on the ages of the child as well - a school dinner portion for a five year old will go a lot further than the same portion for an eleven year old.

happyhillock · 22/05/2019 16:42

Mine were hungry when they came home from school, hot dinner every time

Fatted · 22/05/2019 16:42

My kids have packed lunches and usually 'proper' tea with the childminder at 4.30pm. By the time they get home with me and DH at 6pm they are 'starving' (their words) and usually end up having another meals worth in snacks, toast etc.

Usually at the weekend, I make a big breakfast, small lunch and big tea. We usually have breakfast later at the weekend and it's less rushed so usually have something bigger than a weekday. We also tend to be out while having lunch or just heading out afterwards, so I don't want to faff about cooking a big meal.

But every kid is different. My kids eat loads, but are skinny as anything. Eldest likes three meals a day, youngest likes little and often. I try to make things somewhere in the middle for them both.

Boom45 · 22/05/2019 16:43

School meals are not large at my kids primary and by the time I've finished work and collected them from various childcare or activities they're pretty hungry again. I also like us all to eat together so we have a "proper" tea most days. They only have small portions though - they're only small people.

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